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Tips for a great beach vacation with a 5 and 3 YO?

I'll take any advice or suggestions....great beach snacks, what to pack, things to do, etc. We're taking them to the beach for a week, this is our first real vacation together. Its about a 3.5 hour drive.

Games my kids play......we dig a big hole and let the kids build a fortress around it while they sit in the center of it. Use something to draw a hopscotch on the beach and use a shell to play. Also you can build the outline of a "house' and they can play house in the sand and have their own 'rooms'. My kids will make chairs out of the sand. Play catch, play frisbee, buy some boogies boards and ride the little waves in, they will make friends with other kids on the beach and play with them too.

Thats great! You will have a fantastic time! I rented a condo when my dd was 5 and ds was just a baby.
Take some food w/you in a cooler and dry things like cereal,all that. Then you can make the most of your time instead of grocery shopping. The most trying part of it is the road trip. Take lots of videos and games,take lots of potty breaks and fun snacks you might not usually buy. Have fun!:)

Bring plenty of things for them to do, both at the beach AND at the house. Also bring plenty of snacks and juice and water. Be prepared that things may not go as planned and the kids probably won't behave as you expect them to. Just relax and go with the flow and have a great time!!

my kids went to the beach with my parents when they were 4. they loved playing in the sand and in the waves. they played until exhausted. keep snacks avaiable and lots of drinking water. if the beach is windy, kites would be a good option to take. take lots of simple games to play in case of bad weather. dominoes or board games would be good for family time. little day trips are a fun break. visit a local aqurium or discovery center to break up the trip.

That's good that you're renting a house. That will make it a lot easier for the kids and you.
Beach Snacks would be ..

Fresh cut fruits and veggies (With dips if you prefer)
Sandwiches
Capril Suns and Water

That should be enough for a beach trip. You could bring crackers, cheese, and summer sausage too. That'd be easy to pack and serve.

There are towels with Gabes built right into them. You can also bring sand castle supplies.
Don't forget the camera!!
Bring a Beach Canopy incase one kid sacks out before the other is done playing. Also to keep the sun and sand off of you while you eat your snacks.

Bring a wagon with you to lug all of your stuff down to the beach with you. At this age, you can pack up and walk back to the house for a nap, so don't waste money on a canopy unless it's one that you can all sit under and you have room for it. We live in a beach town and we are there at least twice a week. Bring chairs for you, an umbrella to sit under, lots of sunblock, a cooler to pack drinks and snacks in, sand toys and a good book to read if your SO is going with you. Oh and your CAMERA!

The kids will play and run and wear themselves up, so pack up your wagon and pull it back to the house for naps. Then go back to the beach after naps if you are up for more. We have taken our kids to the beach since they were babies and after the age of two, we stopped worrying about naps AT the beach. Your kids will have an absolute blast!

Oh yeah, hunt for pretty sea shells. My kids totally get into that! Since we live here we are more picky about the sea shells we pick up. We look for specific shells, like only snail shells, or only scallop shells, sometimes only purple shells or orange shells.